Julia's 2025 Top Reads

Once Again, I Have a Little List – and this time, it is so late I really must apologise!

 

Time has run away with me this Festive Season, but it won’t stop the Staff, Friends and Volunteers of our beautiful library Te Takeretanga o Kura-hau-po from wishing all of you Great Readers the very best New Year this worrisome world can offer us, with Goodwill to All a compulsory requirement – we hope!

 

1.    The Things We Didn’t Know, by Elba Iris Perez. 

2.    Sea Change, by Jenny Pattrick. 

3.    The Cracked Mirror, by Chris Brookmyre

4.    Frankie, by Graham Norton.

5.    Going to the Dogs, by Pierre le Maitre.

6.    Fangs for Nothing, by Steffie Holmes.

7.    In a Place of Darkness, by StuartMacBride.

8.    King of Ashes, by S. A. Cosby.

9.    A Beautiful Family, by JenniferTrevelyan.

10. Lucky Thing, by Tom Baragwanath.

11.   The Frozen People, by Elly Griffiths.

12.   An Impossible Fortune, by Richard Osman.

13.   The Spy Coast, by Tess Gerritsen.

14.    The Summer Guests, by Tess Gerritsen

15.   Three Days in June, by Anne Tyler

And there's the list, everyone - Te Takere's First Fifteen waiting for you to take your pick. 

Happy New Year to every dedicated reader in Aotearoa and around the globe.

 

 

Three Days in June, by Anne Tyler.

 

            Anne Tyler is a  treasure.  She has been nominated for or has received every prestigious literary prize the world has to offer, and her genius comes not from telling great sagas about world-shattering subjects, but the everyday dramas that beset us all – which is another reason why she’s so popular:  she writes about thee and me.

            Starting with Gail Baines, assistant headmistress at an elite Girls’ Private school in Baltimore, Maryland:  she is having a bad day because her Boss has just informed her that she will no longer be needed as her assistant for various reasons, not least of which is that her people-skills are lacking;  sometimes, telling a parent that ‘Good God, their daughter will never have the slightest chance of getting into Princeton on those marks’ is not what they want, or need to hear:  the Boss has found a replacement for Gail, necessitating in the last, desperate grand gesture from the person with no people-skills:  ‘I quit!’

            Which gives Gail a certain bitter satisfaction, but she’s 61 years old.  What’s she going to do for income?  And it is her daughter Debbie’s wedding rehearsal and dinner tonight, followed by the wedding and reception tomorrow – what should be Gail’s proudest day for her daughter has been blighted.

            And the situation does not improve with the arrival of her ex-husband Max, looking like a bundle of old clothes – he doesn’t even have a suit for his daughter’s wedding! – and a request to stay at her house for the three days of festivities.  He has also brought with him an elderly cat ‘which he thought she might like’ for he has been working in an animal shelter and the cat’s ancient owner has just died. Could this day get any worse?

            Of course it could, with her daughter’s revelation in a phone call to her mum that a secret has been inadvertently been revealed by the Groom’s sister that very morning, necessitating in much soul-searching about cancelling the whole thing or bravely going ahead. What advice to give, and would anyone listen?  The only one seemingly unaffected is the cat, who has found Gail’s bed and is not giving it up.  She is silent on the subject, but she (and Max) are ever hopeful,

            Yet again Anne Tyler delights and charms us in this lovely little novella of relationships old and new, showing thee and me that face value sometimes doesn’t have that much worth, and that taking a risk (sometimes!) can achieve the contentment to which we all aspire.  FIVE STARS.

 

The Girl With Ice in her Veins, by Karin Smirnoff.

 

            Since the tragic and untimely death of Stieg  Larsson and his unforgettable protagonist Lisbeth Salander, many notable writers have attempted to further her story;  all, so far, have failed to keep up the momentum and suspense of their second foray into Lisbeth’s life, business and personal:  she’s a hard nut to crack and, despite Karin Smirnoff’s very creditable first attempt with ‘The Girl in the Eagle’s Talons’, an icy-veined Lisbeth doesn’t seem true to her life as all we millions of fans know it, BUT!

            It’s thrilling that she is still being recreated, even though in this case she’s not happy;  her most trusted – her only trusted friend, a brilliant hacker who goes by the name of Plague has disappeared.  And that’s a big ask, for he’s obese, with all the health problems that go with that condition:  why would anyone kidnap him?  Except to get at her? 

            Which proves to be the case, but who, and why?  She is even approached most innocently by a woman who wants to befriend her;  this woman is called Lo (the Lynx) and she has a spectacular set of burn scars from a dreadful childhood accident;  she’s definitely unforgettable so why use her as bait?

            An added complication is her niece Svala, barely fourteen and in protest mode with a group of other young people in the small northern town of Gasskas, which is in danger of being taken over by huge, greedy multi-nationals – ‘never mind the environment, think of all the jobs!’ (Sound familiar?) Naturally, nobody pays them any attention until one of their number ends up murdered by a slag-heap:  life is cheap when billions are at stake.  Svala vows revenge for her friend’s murder, but  it isn’t long before her uncles, reindeer herders with whom she lives, start finding dead animals everywhere – just as a warning, you understand.  Svala loves her uncles, so her heart and mind are understandably full of  hurt and hatred.  Who can she rely on?  Does anyone care at all?

            Mikael Blomquvist does.  He has just accepted a job as editor of Gasskas’s local paper;  his daughter is married to the mayor and everyone should be living happily ever after – you think?

            Of course they should, but every character, large and small has a back story here, which impedes the action and complicates the plot;  it’s hard to keep up with myriad nasty baddies who all present themselves on the last page, ready to carry on the series.  Having said that,  Lisbeth and Mikael, with Supergirl Svala, still have enough charisma to continue the tale.  FOUR STARS.

 

 

 

 

 

The Impossible Fortune, by Richard Osman.

 

            Hands up anyone who thinks the gang from the Thursday Murder Club has done its dash, grown a bit hackneyed and predictable – in short, can’t cut it any more:  Harrumph.  NO HANDS AT ALL!!   I should think so.

            It’s such a pleasure to meet these singular characters all again;  they are so dear to us that we would be happy to follow the most boring of their routines at Coopers Chase Retirement Village just to be part of their unique way of looking at the world, and at themselves – which as we know, can come up wanting.

            Joyce, former nurse, who sometimes employs a wildly different kind of logic to her friend Elizabeth (ex spy) to arrive at the same sharp conclusions is in raptures because her only daughter Joanna is marrying Paul, a Sociology Professor and at the reception Joyce is in 7^th Heaven because she can introduce him as ‘my Son-in-Law, Paul’ – which she does to tiresome effect.  Elizabeth (ex spy) is grieving terribly for her beloved husband who has recdently died, and is taking a break from the reception and its festivities, only to be approached by the Best Man, who asks for her help in finding out who has put a bomb under his car parked in the driveway of his home.  Grief in its many forms is forced to take a back seat as Elizabeth and Joyce embark on their latest mystery, ably assisted by the rest of the members of the Thursday Murder Club, including ex-eminent Psychologist Ibrahim and retired Firebrand Unionist Ron, who is having troubles of his own:  his daughter’s drop-kick violent husband has finally been given his marching orders by Ron’s daughter, but he doesn’t like being told what to do, so he hires a hit man to dispose of them all.  Big mistake! 

            Ron’s son foils the plot and ex-hubbie is forced to plan another hit by himself – which he is greedy enough to do because he has gotten wind of the fact that Ron has access to an enormous fortune in Bitcoin, left to gather value until it has reached a total that sounds like a multitude of phone numbers.  Shouldn’t be too hard to access;  that old Ron is way past his use-by date:  piece of cake!  Or not.

            Once again we are turning pages at breakneck speed and loving every minute;  new characters are introduced and minor characters have been given a dusting-off so thorough that I hope they will appear in the next book – yes, Richard Osman has done it again:  made us forget, however briefly,  what a worrying place our world is at this time.  FIVE STARS      

 

The Frozen People, by Elly Griffiths.

    
     

          Detective Ali Dawson works for the Police on cold cases – some of them so old that the victims are known as the Frozen People, especially when she is asked to apply 21^st century investigative techniques to Victorian crimes, like that involving the ancestor of her son Finn’s ambitious boss, Isaac Templeton:  he has aspirations to lead the Tory party to victory sooner rather than later, but his ancestor has scandalous stories whirling about him – even in 2023 – that could damage his chances if it is revealed that Caine Templeton belonged to a gentleman’s club called the Collectors, ostensibly for collecting art – and oddities (a murderer’s brain, for example) – but to join, would-be applicants had first to kill a woman.  Ali is relieved she can’t travel back in time to investigate – until an ambitious young physicist finds a way that works, and like it or not, Ali is on her way.

            And what she discovers is more than enough to stay to solve more crimes (including Templeton and his Collectors) – but it transpires that her one chance to return to the 21^st century has been nabbed by someone else – and that someone has murder on his mind (oh, really?) – yes, here was I ambling along enjoying all the Dickensian characters and Elly Griffith’s wonderfully well-researched descriptions of every-day life in 1850 London (Chamber Pots – thank goodness for modern plumbing! And the enormous amounts of clothing that women had to wear:  if nothing else, the world has become a more comfortable place.)  But not a safe one with a Victorian killer on the loose.

            Ali is able to return to her own time after a few days of horrible suspense – only to find that her son Finn’s boss Isaac Templeton has been murdered at his country estate, and Finn has been charged with murder – by an over-zealous Detective Sergeant who wants everything tidied away with the minimum of fuss;  the CCTV showed a few blurry photos that could have been anyone – including Finn, so that is another mystery for Ali to solve. Whether she wants to or not.

            The ending leaves lots of questions unanswered as this is the first of a new series – which is SO good I hope Ms Griffiths already has Book Two ready for publication,  Ali is not glamorous;  she’s had three husbands of varying quality, celebrated her 50^th birthday and is past her prime, but she’s not dead yet, and capable of carrying this new series high.  FIVE STARS.   

 

Lucky Thing, by Tom Baragwanath.

 

            Well, the reader is the Lucky Thing to be enjoying another Kiwi-As thriller from Tom Baragwanath – who lives and writes in Paris, but has forgotten nothing of his origins in the Wairarapa town of Masterton on the North Island’s East Coast.  Once again, we meet Lorraine Henry, ostensibly a filing clerk in the local police station, but her photographic memory and acquaintance/friendship with most of the town’s denizens gives her an advantage on the town grapevine that no-one else has;  consequently, she is always brought in as an ‘observer’, taking notes for the police chief as required, but filling him in on her opinions later.

            And there is much to talk about and charges pending if they can only establish  what happened to  Jessica Mowbrie, a young local girl from the wrong end of town ( Lorraine’s end of town), who had won a place against  the local debating team of Langsford’s an exclusive private boy’s college:  now she is in intensive care in the local hospital after being found deep in the Tararua Ranges by a couple of  Finnish trampers.  Jessica is in an induced coma as she been given such a good hiding that her skull is fractured, and her family is looking for answers – and vengeance, a classic case of privilege against poverty, for it transpires that Jessica and her cousin Michaela were invited to a teen party at a woolshed belonging to one of the rich farmers of the district;  their drinks were spiked, Michaela was driven home semi-conscious, but Jessica disappeared.  The last person to see her was Stuart, eldest son of the farmer.  Which shows him in a very suspicious light, especially when he and his parents visit the police station all lawyered-up before they were asked:  the plot is thickening alarmingly.

            And more tragedy is on its way.  No-one is exempt, rich or poor. There are a raft of minor characters waiting in the wings to add to a seemingly insoluble mystery, and no-one comes away unscathed:  Lorraine’s life is threatened more than once on a single night and she is starting to wonder if being a filing clerk could be a dead-end job (sorry) before the cavalry turns up in the shape of Constable Dion, saving the day but not every life.

            Tom Baragwanath has proved to be no One Hit Wonder:  his second foray into small-town crime in rural Aotearoa New Zealand is just as meticulous and atmospheric as his first, and Lorraine, who lost so much in ‘Paper Cage’ is well and truly cemented into her role as so much more than just a paper shuffler. Good on you, girl!   FIVE STARS.   

     

 

Never Flinch, by Stephen King.

 

            Shy, middle-aged proprietor of Finders Keepers Private Detective Agency Holly Gibney has become a firm favourite with tens of thousands of King fans after several hair-raising semi-supernatural adventures in which she found courage and determination that her domineering mother (since deceased, thank goodness!) would never have thought her capable.  Now she has firm friends and a viable business:  life is good – until a woman is found murdered on a popular lakeside path.

            Holly is friends with Izzy Jaynes, one of the detectives in the local police department; Izzy respects Holly’s skills and promises to keep her name out of sight – which is very much a part of Holly’s ethics:  at this stage they are just batting the breeze and swapping ideas – until another body is found, with a name on a piece of paper clutched in its hand, just like the first.  A serial killer is operating, and as the bodies mount up the names turn out to be those of the   jury in a long ago murder trial who found the accused guilty of child sex abuse.  He was subsequently murdered in prison by another inmate, then exonerated posthumously when new evidence (which should have been collected at the time) was found.

            The whole city is buzzing with the scandal, and to fuel the flames, a wildly controversial feminist is on tour of mid-west centres – she loves audience confrontation, thumbing her nose and middle finger at all the religious right-to-lifers:  she’s ready to die for the cause!  Which she doesn’t – but her hapless assistant has bleach thrown in her face and avoids anthrax by the merest whisker.  Oh well, Okay then, it’s time to hire a bodyguard.  And she decides on Holly (who never applied for the job but is perfect because she hides successfully in crowds and no-one is more observant).

            Last but never least, Sista Bessie, an acclaimed soul and blues singer is starting her mighty comeback tour in this very same city in the very same venue on consecutive nights – with a serial killer operating too, so the suspense should be unbearable.

            But it isn’t.  I think this is one of King’s novels that has missed the mark;  as always his characters are well-drawn but we know who did what, and when too soon, and there are a number of mini-spoilers every now and then that (in my exalted opinion) didn’t need to be there;  everything got slowed down as a consequence – BUT!  Stephen King is still the relentlessly honest chronicler of today’s Trump America, and ‘Never Flinch’ succeeds for that reason alone.  FOUR STARS.